1 John 4:11
”Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.”
We love because he first loved us.The eternal God loves us with a divine love that cannot be compared with the inadequacy of man. God loves us regardless of what we do, it doesn’t mean that God condones our sin. On the contrary, he hates sin but what it means is this – we cannot earn God’s love because He is Love embodied in himself.
As God has loved us, so also must we show God’s love to others. Love is not an optional virtue, it is the distinguishing mark of a child of God in the world. The world loves those that love them, but Jesus commands us to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-47)
Of course, this is not an easy command to follow, if everyone were easy to love, we would not need this strong exhortation to love one another. It is in these difficult situations that God’s amazing love in Christ Jesus should shine forth. If we remember that God loved us while we were yet sinners, then we must be the channel for His love to flow to those who may not be very loveable.
